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A nice light for our baby's room

When we were expecting our first baby we did the worst (well expensive) thing you can do by deciding on a theme for the nursery, namely Millie and Boris, a rabbit and bear from Mamas and Papas. It is a beige neutral shade that would suit a boy or a girl and they sell everything you can imagine in this theme.

The M&B rangeI managed to source loads of Millie and Boris stuff on ebay and although there is a slight variation between the years of M&B it is a consistent colour. So for example, the tie backs from the curtains are slightly different to the 2012 lamp shade.

The final fittingOur daughter is now 14 months old and we have moved house in that time and her room is slightly smaller and we did manage to squeeze in most of the furniture but had left the neutral shade behind so wanted to get her a shade for her room that went with the theme. We visited the M&P shop and liked the M&B shade but it was expensive so we looked around for a bit to see if there was anything else we liked. In the end we returned to buy the shade as it was the nicest one we had seen, and it matched her curtains, bedding and other bits we had from the M&B range.

Looks like...The shade is beige and has Millie on one side and Boris on the other. Their legs sort of dangle off the bottom of the shade so it gives it a more 3D effect. There are also stars cut out of the shade to make reflections on the walls. The whole shade is cylindrical in shape and gives a decent amount of shade so you are not looking up at bare bulb which can be harsh, especially in a nursery.

Material and technical bitsThe shade is made from a nice suede material that should last many years. It is recommended that you use no more than a 60W bulb with this shade which is plenty of light for her room.

PriceThe lampshade is now reduced on the M&P website to £22.40 but we did pay the full price of £28. Whilst it is a high quality lampshade, it's probably closer to £20 than £30's worth.

My thoughtsYou really do get sucked in to theming a room during pregnancy and in retrospect I wish we had just chosen a colour to go with as we did feel like we needed to get everything from the M&B range (although we didn't!). It is quite expensive when they are not on sale. Having moaned about that, it does look really nice and is quality stuff. The shade is beautiful and finishes the room off to a nice standard. You can always sell M&B items on ebay afterwards if they are still in good nick.

Final wordI love the Millie and Boris range and do enjoy looking at the lampshade when we are in the nursery. It is a shame that her nursing chair doesn't fit in the room as we could rock and enjoy the mood lighting and environment that the shade provides. It is a high quality item and looks nicer than a plain shade. If friends and family want to buy presents for the baby's birth it is handy to have a theme ready so you can suggest items to them.